Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 83 – Eeeeh!?

After getting my crafted items evaluated on the Guild and restocking the store, I decided to go look for a chair before going back to the workshop.

We were now in the middle of lunch time in-game… Or well, it is actually around 3pm, which isn’t the ‘middle’ of lunch time at all, but that’s fine. We’re in the early afternoon then.

NPC stores are open right now, so let’s buy something as good as the desk I bought last time, then go back to the workshop.

I’m sure a nice chair will have a good effect… It’s a bit troublesome that there isn’t any detailed breakdown on the benefits given by the item, but as the game hides a lot of its information, that much just can’t be helped.

So, the important part is getting something with a design that I like. I have quite a bit of money with me, so I can buy whatever I like!

Of course, I could also make it myself or try asking a player Pioneer to craft it for me, but, at least for now, the NPC stores are the best ones at making furniture.

Like, I’m the only player who can regularly make steel gear, but NPC stores still put those up for sale from time to time… And that’s gear that we’re talking about. Furniture is something with a much smaller demand than equipment, so not many people dedicate themselves to crafting those.

Also, while one may need an introduction letter if they wish to buy steel gear from the Kederick Store, there is no such thing for furniture, so I can buy whatever I want!

If there was some restriction on buying amazing furniture, I’d probably need to rely on other player Pioneers or craft it myself…

******

And so I bought it. I’m not sure what kind of leather it is using, but I bought a heavy leather chair for me.

It’s a bit big, but it’s also quite comfortable to sit on. I think my drawings will be even better with this.

I wanted to test it out and draw a Magical Formation, but I think a single one won’t be enough to satisfy me, so I decided to be patient and leave the testing for later.

After all, I need to make steel gear to restock the store, as my last restocking involved primarily Magic Iron Rings.

Keeping the store open for 24h a day made it hard to replenish the store after every big break. The intervals are now shorter than they used to be, after all.

And there are too many things I want to do!

Well, one thing at a time. For now I want to make steel equipment for the store, as the demand is showing no signs of slowing down.

Or rather, a line is still being formed in front of my store each time I announce that I’m putting steel gear up for sale on the blog.

That’s quite good for earning funds though! Which is great, as I wanna save up the funds to buy Advanced Facilities!

It was hard to save enough for Intermediate Facilities, but once I started selling steel gear, I was able to upgrade everything to Intermediate-tier in no time.

However, the price of Advanced Facilities is quite high. Even with the sales of steel equipment, I still won’t be able to save up to buy those unless I sell a considerable amount of items.

Moreover, I was able to skip the test to buy Intermediate Facilities due to the introductory letter of Mr. Kederick, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do that with Advanced Facilities… I suppose I could ask him about it? It doesn’t hurt to try at least.

And coming to think of it, the Kederick Workshop has advanced facilities in it, so can’t I ask him to let me borrow those?

I couldn’t use them during my training period as my skill level and my techniques weren’t good enough, but I think there should be no problems if I try it now… After all, I’m not only an ‘Artisan’s Blacksmith’ already, but I also have this skill at level 57! I’ll probably start making 4* steel gear soon, which can let me get Options on them at last!

And advanced facilities might just be the last small boost that I need to get to this point.

Then, let’s quickly make steel equipment for the store, as it is almost time to log-out and go to bed!

But before that, I’ll at least send a message to Mr. Kederick… Alright, crafting start!

******

Good morning!

The heat is still pretty harsh today, but my room is quite comfortable, so everything feels fine for me.

And of course, Frontiers, as always, feels comfortable too.

It is morning in reality, but it’s midnight in Frontiers already.

And it seems like Mr. Kederick replied to my message while I was logged out. He said he doesn’t mind letting me borrow his advanced facilities, but he cannot exempt me from the exam I need to go through in order to buy them.

Apparently introductory letters don’t allow anyone to bypass the exam for advanced facilities, so I’ll have to clear it if I want to buy them.

Well, I suppose it can’t be helped. I guess I’ll go there and hear more details about the exam once the store opens then.

Ah, though I’ll borrow the advanced facilities first. Master Merget said I could come to the workshop whenever I wanted, so I’ll do just that!

… Well, I won’t go when the store is closed though.

In any case, while I was able to make a fair amount of steel equipment yesterday, let’s make use of this time to make a few more… After all, I still don’t have enough money to buy advanced facilities!

I’ll do my best today too! Help me out Wandering Mushroom Minicot! You can even stay on my head if you want!

And of course, as I get pretty focused on work once I start, the spores spread by the Minicot won’t bother me.

******

“Good morning!” I told everyone on the workshop.

“Oh, you’re here!” Master Merget said.

“Good morning!” The other disciples replied.

After making more steel gear, getting it evaluated at the Guild and restocking the store, I ended up drawing a lot of Magical Formations to test the effects of the chair I bought yesterday.

I kept on drawing until the Kederick Workshop opened. I figured this was a nice point to stop my drawing and to come here.

And well, the effect of the chair is quite good. I feel like the speed and accuracy of my drawing has improved a bit.

Well, I can’t say for sure if I don’t draw a bit more…

Yeah, I definitely don’t know…

So I’ll draw more later! This is for the sake of testing it out! It can’t be helped!

But for now, let’s borrow the advanced facilities and see if I can get some nice results out of them.

… I ended up making an appointment for it in advance though. It just didn’t feel right to come without warning.

“You’ll be taking the test for the advanced facilities, right? Well, since it’s you we’re talking about, then there should be no problems, but do your best!” Master Merget told me.

“I will!

“Though what is the exam like? I was thinking of going there after this!” I replied.

“That’s the spirit! You see…” Master Merget then started explaining it.

The reason I came to the Kederick workshop today was not just for borrowing the advanced facilities, but also because I wanted to hear what master Merget could tell me about those things.

Most of the craft-focused player Pioneers have yet to finish upgrading their facilities to intermediate level, after all, so information on the advanced test is basically non-existed on the forums right now.

But I have a strong ally! It’s natural to ask for information directly in these cases!

And well, master Merget ended up telling me that the test usually involves delivering 3* steel ingots and some extra.

The extra tends to vary depending on the time and situation. Master Merget had to deliver multiple steel rivets, for example.

Though well, he also said that I most likely won’t have any issues with whatever is requested, as it will probably still be something that can be done with steel-based intermediate material, and I certainly agree with his statement on that.

And in this meantime, I tried the advanced facilities out. It didn’t impress me as much as the intermediate facilities did back when I had only experienced beginner facilities, but…

I want this. I want this as soon as possible!

I mean… I finally did it!

——

Steel Bucket Helm

Head/Heavy Gear/4*/DEF +43/Durability 40

——

Just as I expected! The advanced facility was enough to let me reach the 4* rank! The effect of facilities is just incredible!

I want to take the test and renew my facilities as soon as I have the necessary funds to purchase it.

“By the way, Bucket! Did you go to Dotril yet!?” Master Merget asked me.

“Dotril!? I haven’t!” I replied.

Conversations on the workshop were all quite noisy, but I was always able to hear master Merget whenever he talked…

In any case, Dotril is the city that we can reach after passing through the road that was being blocked by the Lich.

Mika visited the city before, and she said it was mostly a suspicious place, but without much that was note-worthy… She did give me a very unique tapestry as a souvenir from her visit though.

I put it on display in my Room, but… Now that I think about it, I haven’t used my Room at all recently, have I? It felt unnecessary now that I have my own workshop. I had even forgotten about it until just now.

And well, I can’t even see the Room without using its key, so it ends up being easy to forget about it as I never even look at it in the first place.

“I recently heard that a craftsman who can expand the inventory appeared there!” Master Merget told me.

“Eeeeh!?” I exclaimed.

I had searched quite a bit for information related to inventory expansion, but so far I found nothing aside from the first expansion that you get when your Guild rank reaches 2*.

This was quite the information… To think I’d be able to expand it on Dotril…

As more areas are unlocked, the number of items that I need will inevitably end up increasing. I use my personal warehouse and the store’s warehouse to manage all the new materials, but I’d definitely welcome an inventory increase.

Sure, I can just increase the level of the warehouse contract in case I’m running out of space, but that also comes with an increase in cost. That can go out of hand after a while.

… Though that is unlikely to happen when considering how profitable steel equipment is.

In any case, I have to go to Dotril and check this myself.

Fortunately, there are carriages that regularly cross that path.

I would like to also invite Mika, Hime and everyone from Works, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to expand the inventory just because this craftsman exists.

Because after asking master Merget about it, I ended up finding out that this craftsman is actually somewhat eccentric, so… Well, let’s first go there myself and check it out.

It would be good to share this information with everyone on the forums after that.

So… Let’s go out! I too like going on trips every now and then!